Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
FLOATER — Putting up a running one-handed shot is Houlton’s Breanna Longstaff as Hodgdon’s Summer Stoddard defends during a Dec. 26 game at Houlton. The Shires rolled to a 57-21 victory.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON — Despite nagging injuries, the Houlton girls basketball team is quietly putting together an impressive season on the hardwood.
Houlton (3-2) picked up a pair of victories this past week, beating Hodgdon 57-21 Dec. 26 and besting Madawaska 55-23 Saturday afternoon.
“We’ve got a very busy schedule coming up in the next few weeks with lots of Heal Points on the line,” Houlton coach Shawn Graham said. “Hopefully we’ll get healthy, continue to build on a few weaknesses and make a strong push for a descent seeding by the end of the month.”
Against Hodgdon, Natalie Hill tallied 12 points, five assists and five steals to lead the Shiretowners. Breanne Longstaff added 11 points and Emily Mooers chipped in 10.
For Hodgdon, Lauren Howell scored a game-high 17 points, 13 of which came in the second half.
The Shires led 14-4, 38-8 and 44-13 at the quarter breaks.
“Once again, I thought we played well for a couple of quarters,” coach Graham said. “We aren’t where we’d like to be at this point in the season. We’ve had a habit of getting off to a slow start at times and haven’t been able to put together a complete game for the entire four quarters.”
“Houlton has some very skilled players who work well together,” Hodgdon coach Cody Tompkins said. “That type of chemistry is something that takes many years to develop. Natalie Hill is a great player that can change a game without scoring, and her and Condon work well off each other.”
Coach Graham said injuries to Megan Collett and Tanika Toby, who both play in the post, have hurt the Shires’ depth.
“When my starting post players get into foul trouble or need a break, I have to rotate a couple of smaller guards in for them and have a couple others drop down to the post where they may not be as comfortable,” Graham said.
Both were expected back for Tuesday’s game against Presque Isle.
For coach Tompkins, who is in his first varsity coaching position, the challenges are greater as he has a roster that does not have much varsity experience. In fact, one of the starters for the Hawks (Valerie Estabrook) only recently joined the team.
“Valerie is a great athlete, with a positive attitude and really understands the game well,” Tompkins said. “She played basketball in junior high, but decided to focus on soccer and work up until now. She is a great addition to our team, and I look forward to watching her develop as well as my team develop as we enter the New Year.”
Tompkins said the gameplan coming into the contest was to use his team’s height advantage in the post.
“When we did look to establish our inside game things looked great,” Tompkins said. “We knew we needed to do two things, rebound and limit turnovers. I thought for the most part we accomplished those two goals. Obviously with any rival your players always understand that it’s a big game, but my girls were excited for it.”
